With another wonderful book—Barbie-Jo has done it again! She delights us with her stories, lifting our spirits and causing us to throw back our heads and laugh out loud. In this companion book to Things Were Going Fine … Till We Hit the Rapids she recounts her true-life adventures, reprising a cast of characters who begin with good intentions, but usually encounter wildly funny calamities.

These nine powerful stories focus on the lives of adult men; some from the present, others from the recent past. Though many could be considered tragedies, there are also moments of justice, courage and humour. Both sexes will appreciate the experiences of these intriguing characters, however; whose collective message is that confronting our weaknesses can often become our greatest strength.

What convinces us that we have been wrong about the world? That it is time to set down one life and pick up another? Winner of the Pacific Book Award for short fiction, "Signs of Passing" offers ten stories told from the nearside of epiphany, less a place than a state of mind in which one can hear the voice calling from beyond the veil of conscious understanding, singing of how life can be better.

"Bald Knob, Arkansas" is a collection of 7 short stories. “Minnie Tushi Meets Her Love in Bald Knob” is the second short story. It is about finding love. “Bob the Road Painter” is about solitude, “Bob and the Dickheads” is about a musical family, “An Ordinary Man” is about workplace stress, “The Dumb Clucks Who Caused All The Trouble” is about family relationships, plus two other short stories.

An indigent man becomes an unwitting participant in a bet between two strangers . . . A young woman is caught up in a nightmare of precognition . . . A pair of teen-aged brothers find themselves on the wrong side of a dangerous man . . . A young newlywed and her mother-in-law bring new meaning to the concept of bonding. . . At her son's urging, a widow reluctantly gives aerobic walking a try.

This anthology of brilliant Australian short stories has won ten literary awards. Most have been published in magazines or journals and the full collection is presented here for the first time. The theme of these tales is the world behind what we take as reality. The interlocking stories are set in and around the elegant provincial city of Ballarat, Victoria.